Magento becomes fresh target for KimcilWare ransomware

Webmasters using Magento need to stay alert against KimcilWare ransomware, which has now begun targeting the website management system.

Magento, used by over 200,000 companies worldwide, is an e-commerce system which powers a vast range of websites and provides the back end for systems and functionality.

However, if a cyberattacker is able to compromise the server-side aspect of a Web domain, they may be able to steal sensitive data, infiltrate databases and potentially hijack websites as a result. In e-commerce cases, the scenario can be worse as financial information may be involved. In a recent case to hit the cybersecurity field, it appears that a strain of ransomware -- malware which infects systems, encrypts files and demands payment for functionality to be restored -- called KimcilWare is being used in campaigns against websites supported by Magento's e-commerce platform.

According to security researchers from MalwareHunterTeam, the ransomware is targeting websites with the intention of encrypting servers linked to Magento and demanding a ransom payment. The team said KimcilWare, used by a threat actor dubbed tuyuljahat, is installed via a script which encrypts all data and can be spotted through the .kimcilware extension, which is added to all locked files. A new index.html file displays a ransom note, alongside a readme file, which demands a random of 1 BTC -- $413 at the time of writing -- or $140 to unlock the e-commerce store.

At this stage, it is not known how the malware is managing to infect Magento domains, and there is no cure for the infection. Infected users should consider reverting to backups to wipe clean the infection. The researchers did note, however, that KimcilWare appears to be a variation of Hidden Tear, an abandoned open-source ransomware sample created by for educational purposes.